I wasn't able to get a shot of the installed headlights today. Work went a bit long.

Drove it in the rain this evening, the new lights make it much easier to see. Need to clean the inside of the windshield. I also need to see if I can get some of the little bulbs that go inside the instrument cluster. I was at the stupid parts store earlier, ordering an oxygen sensor, but I forgot to ask about the bulbs. So when it's dark, only the lower-speed side of the speedometer is lit up. Sometimes if I hit a bump the gas gauge/temp gauge lights up.

I got spoiled, wife and I have another car that she typically drives - another small five speed sedan. But it's a 2017, and therefore has traction control, stability control, ABS, but isn't as powerful as the Ion... Compared to that little car, the Ion is just waiting for you to stop paying attention so it can catapult you into a curb. It's refreshing, having to actually drive the car and not have it try to save you when you screw up.

 

You may not need bulbs. It might just be a loose ground at the instrument cluster.

 

I took the cluster out, and it looks like someone along the line put some aftermarket LED's in there, and they just don't fit right. And the LED's that aren't lighting, the little metal contacts have broken off, probably from vibrating loose. The new bulbs should be here monday.

Here's a daylight shot of the new lights.



Also got an oxygen sensor today and put it in. I'd say it was about time. If the sensor looks like this, I'm going to assume the plugs look similar.

 

Superbrightled has real nice quality ones. Our size is 1.8b I think? Something stupid small.

I agree. I hate these new cars that basically drive for us. Its stupid.

 

It's been interesting contrasting my wife's car with this old Saturn. The wife's car is a 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage G4. It's a little four-door sedan with a three cylinder and a five speed, and any auto reviewer will whinge and bitch like a six year old about how basic the car is, how slow it is, and how you can see exposed fasteners if you look for them, while resolutely ignoring the fact that the little car isn't supposed to be a sports car, or a luxury sedan, it's an economy car, with a small fuel efficient engine that gets hybrid-like gas mileage without the hybrid complexity or the hybrid price. And a lot of thought was put into making the car easy to maintain and repair, it's about as hard to work on as the Saturn, although I haven't had to do more than change the oil in it. As for the fact that it's not fast, if I want to go fast, I have a motorcycle, but worse than that, with three cylinders and 78 horsepower, it's still somehow the fastest car on the road. Everywhere I drive it, I'm held up by something much more powerful that can't even manage the speed limit.

Compared to this car, the Ion is considerably faster. I think it weighs a little bit more (The Mirage is right around 2000 pounds, the Ion supposed to be about 2700?) but the engine is almost twice the size. The gearshift in the Mirage feels more... notchy. It clicks into gear more positively than the Saturn does. Clutch in the Mirage starts to grab about halfway through the travel, the Ion starts to grab about 1/2" off the floor. The Mirage has power locks, windows, keyless entry. The Saturn has seats and a steering wheel. The Ion's engine is ironically more refined sounding. Just a steady hum that gets louder and a little angry. The Mirage grumbles. It snarls. It screams it's hatred at the sky and all who are cursed to stand beneath it.

 

Sounds like your clutch ia getting tired.

Clutch masters are also common failures in them. Mine, brand new caught about 1/2 way back up.

Could also just need to be bled.

Ive seen the g4s before. Never really looked at em though. For a daily beater doesn't sound bad. But lets be real. We like to go fast. I'm an adrenaline junky.

 

Going fast is fine. I've just learned that there are cheaper ways to go fast. I can spend $9k on a motorcycle that will run 12's, how much would a car that fast cost me? The little Mirage is just a commuter, a little efficient car I can carry my family in.

 

Cluster is lit now! Stays lit up even when I hit a bump, which on the roads in Oklahoma, is pretty much all the time.

As an added bonus, the check engine light I had went out on it's own after driving around with the new oxygen sensor.

 

Woohoo!

 

Awesome! What the hell did you do to fix them?